


Warmth

by nvaderxim (ximena07)



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst, F/M, Suggested fire injury, cabinfic, prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-02
Updated: 2015-11-02
Packaged: 2018-04-29 14:16:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5130683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ximena07/pseuds/nvaderxim
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"How are you always so warm, Trevelyan?" </p>
<p>It was an innocent question. But it touched a memory he had long tucked away.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Warmth

  
"How are you always so warm, Trevelyan?"

Cassandra's hand was on his. Her palm was rugged and callous, but her touch was gentle. Armand merely looked at her and smiled before he looked out the window. He had dragged her to a cabin situated miles from Skyhold for a simple night together. Things were going fine until a snowstorm happened. It raged for a few hours, and then they found themselves trapped after hours of trying to get the door open. As the night deepened, the fireplace's warmth proved not enough. She began shuddering, and he had offered her his hand. When it wasn't enough, he pulled her closer and wrapped his arm around her. She had thanked him with a small smile and a kiss on his cheek. _Maybe it wasn't so bad after all_ , he decided.

"I've always had an affinity for fire," he finally answered and recalled that one afternoon. He could still remember how the fire on his hands spread from one finger to another, the horror on his siblings' face, the gasps of the workers — He clenched his jaw at the memory. And there it was: a well long hidden but unearthed. The emotions poured from the hole and seized his whole being. _It would be too much soon_ , he knew.

Cassandra watched the emotions flicker across his countenance. She caught pain on the lines of his brows and the twitch of his mouth. She pressed her brow against the side of his face and nuzzled against him. "I do not say it like it's a bad thing. I am sorry if that is how it sounded." Her admission was small, her voice quieter than usual. She knew she had strong opinions, but when it came to him, she was careful. Briefly, she wondered when it started. Maybe it was that day when she had told him about Anthony. She did not know when it started, but it might as well had started when she wished to extend him the same care he showed her for that moment of vulnerability. Now, she could not even tell when her thoughts for him started and ended.

"In truth," she continued, "after a long day, your warmth is one of the things I look forward to. It is... comforting. It makes me feel safe." Safer than how she feels when she is in her armor. Safer than any shield she has wielded. Safer than any time she had felt safe before. She felt him inhale sharply,  
and soon his shoulders shuddered. She pulled back and saw tears rushing down his face.

"Armand?" She whispered, her hands immediately wiping away his tears. He had never cried before, and she wondered why now? What kind of pain had he been hiding.

"Safe," his voice broke the moment the words left his mouth. He shut his eyes as the memory threatened to seize his entire being. "Safe is not a word one usually associates with mages, Cass." The inquisitor was a confident man who never faltered with his words. Yet, at that moment, his voice was but a whisper. At that moment, he was not The Herald or The Inquisitor. He was simply Armand, a man who has long kept things to himself. He grew silent, trying to find the words to begin. He felt Cassandra's hand on his, and he found courage. Just enough to face the shadows of his past.

"The day my magic manifested, my hands were on fire. I was so afraid, Cass. I didn't know what was happening. And I screamed – I **screamed** for someone to help. No one came; they just... looked. Even my brothers and sisters just looked at me like – like I was a _monster_.” Armand paused, remembering the looks the people of Haven cast at him in the beginning. The memory sent a chill traveling down his spine. It made him untangle from her and walk away towards the window. The scene outside was silent, the snowstorm long over. But all he could see were the fearful looks of people. With a large intake of breath, he continued the tale.

“But there was this one worker, this old man. He came running towards me with a blanket on hand. He threw it over my hands, but the flames wouldn't stop. The blanket caught fire. My older brother was able to pull him away before the fire could wound him beyond healing. That very same afternoon, I went to the Ostwick Circle. I didn't let anyone visit me until I was able to control my magic." Sometimes, he was afraid he'd burn Cassandra if he touched her. If it wasn't for his many years of training, he wouldn't have had the confidence to even stand inches from her or anyone.

He felt her approach him. Cassandra pressed her hand against his wide shoulders. He tensed at first, but reminded himself that she did not deserve such sudden coldness.

"I... did not know. I did not mean to offend, my love."

He turned around. "You did not. Memories just have its way of coming back at the most inopportune moments. Especially when you think you've long hidden it away. Do I scare you now?" For the first time in many nights, he felt fear swirl in his stomach as he waited for her answer. It was not even the same fear he felt when he faced Corypheus. That kind of fear fuels you to try and live. This one made him want to stop existing. What if she said yes? What if in her eyes he was a monster now as well? His heart started to thunder inside his chest.

Cassandra looked at him for a long moment. She studied the worried lines above his brow and the frown on his lips. The look on his face made her heart feel heavy. She was used to his lips curling under his beard until the only thing you could see were the mirth on his eyes and his dimples. This man before her had been stripped of every armor and barrier, and all she could see was pain he had tried so hard to keep away. She had not meant to unearth such a memory. Now all she wanted was to chase his pain away, but she did not know how. She knew how to rush in with her sword and her shield. She had never been trained to console people. But for him, she would try.

"The only time you've scared me was when I was unsure of your intentions." Her admission was light, a smile upon her lips. She did not know if those were the right words to comfort him, but it was the truth. And she had always been on the side of truth. For a moment, she cursed her lack of skill with words. But if her words would not reach him, at least her actions would. She held out her hands to him, and he laid his eyes upon the scars on her fingers and the callouses on her palms. "I trust you, Armand Trevelyan. With my life. With my heart." She declared with the same strength she always had, but her words were laced with sincerity and a rare gentleness.

Cassandra's words knocked the breath from his lungs for a moment. He looked at her, found only certainty in her eyes. He reached out to hold her hands. She never flinched, only welcomed him without question. Gently, he pulled her closer and pressed a kiss on her brow - a thousand words of thanks sealed in one moment. Maybe from this moment onwards, he would start believing he wasn't such a monster. Maybe he'll be the same man she believed he was. He closed his eyes as he promised the Maker he would always try for her. For the trust she has given him. Maker, he would try to the end of his days.

Cassandra still held his hands in hers as he promised in silence. Her palms were rugged and callous, but her touch was gentle. There was warmth in her touch that chased dark thoughts away, a warmth enough to make him believe he could do anything, be anything.

Later when he tells her of it, she would say she was never gentle, and that his hands were always warmer.

But he knew otherwise.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I missed writing and asked any of my followers to send me prompts. Someone asked about my inquisitor and Cassandra stuck inside a cabin after being snowed in. The fic turned a bit angsty, but I always had a headcanon that my inquisitor was always warmer than usual being someone who had such ease handling fire spells. Haha. If you're not familiar with Armand, you can search tumblr with "Armand Trevelyan" to see how he looks. This was originally posted in my tumblr, but I edited it. And then posted it here. I hope you enjoyed it.


End file.
